Thursday, April 21, 2016

Greetings friends and family! It has been a long time since we have written. We just returned from a trip to Greece for a
Christian Medical and Dental Association medical conference and a visit with
Warren’s family in Switzerland.We were
so grateful to be able to attend again and re-connect with our friends around
the world.

Easter Celebration
We hosted a Samaritan's Purse Easter meal, Easter egg hunt for missionary kids. A community has really formed here, in contrast with our first Easter here when we were the only missionary family at Nyankunde. It is a joy to share life together.

Greece

The Mediterranean coast of Greece is quite cold this time of year, but this
did not stop us from swimming in it! At the conference childcare was provided so Emmanuel was able to play with other kids all
day allowing us to attend educational sessions.I feel better equipped to read a peripheral blood smear, to expand my
screening for HIV, and incorporate more medical resources into my
practice.It is inspiring to hear about
people’s ministries around the world.It
was fun to meet the other folks working in different parts of Congo, in
particular from Vanga Hospital. Plus we enjoyed hanging out with our fellow colleagues from Nyankunde out of the work context. Our kids really love each other and are so close in age.

The Folmer & Larochelle family

Can we say future trouble?

I knew that our child was very ACTIVE but this conference
confirmed this fact, as there were many children his age that he ran circles
around!We met lots of new people due to
our curly haired, busy, little boy.I
love how outgoing he is.Whenever he
walks into a room he is instantly looking for a friend to play with….whether
the child he pursues likes it or not.He
really has a charming smile and friendly nature.They had a children’s program at the end of
the conference.Emmanuel simply went up
on It is fun to watch.My biggest scare was his running away from me
in the lobby of the hotel down to the ocean with our friend Joe Harvey chasing
him.As good as it is to be away, it is
so nice to be home.Emmanuel instantly
reconnected with his nanny Maziga and our house crew.He embraced his dog Cocoa and has been
running all over the place.We did not
make any weekend trips to historical sites, maybe in the next couple of years
when Emmanuel can be better directed.

Joanna and Lukas Folmer

stage and joined along with all the older kids during their singing and
dancing.

Switzerland

A highlight of our trip to Europe was the opportunity to visit Warren’s parents in Basel, Switzerland.

We enjoyed wonderful meals and conversation as always.Emmanuel laughed so much with his grandmother Anita.We rode many trams all over the
city, went shopping and to the zoo, the pool, and out to eat. We have never seen the national animal of Congo, the okapi, a cross between a giraffe and a zebra...but we

The elusive okapi, that prefers to always show its backside

Emmanuel said "shh" for "fish"

saw this animal at the zoo in Basel! And Emmanuel was very excited about seeing a fish for the first time. Our friend Mike Upio, a physician from Nyankunde,
is completing his advanced degree in Basel and we were able to re-connect with
him.We were able to speak at a
supporting church in Basel, which was a blessing.We bought Emmanuel a new scooter that he rode all over the place.

The Value of Patience
and Hope

Do you find that the best lessons in life are learned
through experience?Not from a book, a
TEDTalk, counselor, etc.Although all
these things are great, there is nothing quite like learning something
firsthand.I have been learning profound
lessons from God about enduring hope and patience through my patients.I shared these stories with Basel Christian
Fellowship during our time in Switzerland.I was tempted to give up on both of these situations and send the
children home on palliative care, but I really believe that the Holy Spirit
prevented me from doing so.I hope these
stories will be a blessing to you too.

The first is regarding a toddler named James (name
protected) who had been in the hospital for the past 4months with HIV and its’
infectious complications.He was losing
weight, had daily fevers, was not developing, had general irritability, and had
signs of tuberculosis.He typified
almost ALL of the bad complications I see in children.Like so many other pediatric patients, the
disclosure of a diagnosis of HIV is complicated and can fracture families.In the end we diagnosed the mother with HIV,
but sadly she did not want further discussion or treatment.Over the following months the child showed
steady improvement on anti-retrovirals and antibiotics.I did not have peace to send him home, wanting
the mother to accept her own condition and pursue treatment.I knew that the health of the child and the
mother were intimately linked. All we could do was pray and wait.I am not sure
how many times we asked the mother if she was willing to talk. The answer was always no. Finally one day she accepted our proposal and
attended a counseling session.Today she
is on treatment with her son.This is
HUGE victory.

What changed this mother’s heart?I don’t know, but I do know that she experienced transformation.I think the Holy Spirit was
involved and that she was learning through experience.These are powerful things.She witnessed her child steadily
improving-starting to walk, smiling, gaining weight, and experiencing life
again.This gave her HOPE and COURAGE
for her own life.All the glory goes to
God for this. It is hard to wait sometimes when it seems like you are constantly hitting a wall, but the Lord is always faithful to answer.

2
Peter 3:9 says, “ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count
slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should reach repentance.”

Yes,
Lord you are not slow to fulfill your promises.Your timing is perfect.

The second story is about a child
named Demetrius, aged 7years.He came in
from another hospital with arthritis and long-standing fevers and what looked
like clinical typhoid.We treated him
like typhoid but the fevers continued, the pain became so debilitating that he could no
longer walk, and he started developing bony abscesses everywhere.He started on treatment for tuberculosis and
we started painfully draining abscesses every other day.Every day it seemed like he had a new problem
and the pain continued to worsen.Every
service in the hospital knew Demetrius-physical therapy, nutrition, surgery,
pediatrics, the chaplains, and the local health center.We kept doing ultrasounds on his painful
bones.We added a fifth drug to cover
tuberculosis of the bone and he started to get better.The fevers went away and he had less
pain.Finally we were able to transfer
him out of the ICU.

Several times I felt like I was
failing this young boy.It is really
hard to see a child suffering , to feel helpless to change things, and to feel
like you are missing something.I told
Warren that Demetrius would either get better or die while we are doing
everything for him.I was not willing to
give up.A few weeks ago the family
thanked me for loving him and not giving up. In essence they said, “You listened to us when there were daily problems and he was
getting worse.You just kept going.”I simply said that God never gives up on
us.He sees all of our situations and wishes
all of us to come to Him.Our God’s
patience and steadfast love is unending, no matter what the circumstance.I told them that I was simply His
representative.

I am so humbled to have
participated in the care of these two children.I count it a privilege to participate in the Lord’s work.I learned so much from these two boys.I have a long way to go in learning the
virtues of patience, hope, and steadfast love.Paul says, “ Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly love,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and
patience”(Colossians 3:12).I think these virtues are so important and a
good check for our spirits as we work together with friends, colleagues, and
patients.I hope that these stories will
be a blessing to you too.

Longevity on the Missions Field
I ran across an article the other day about longevity on the mission field by a pioneer missionary with YWAM named Tom Bloomer. It struck a chord and I encourage those interested to read the article at: http://missionsmanual.com/2014/02. In essence he says that missionaries need to learn how to do three things: maintain hope, grow faith, and do spiritual warfare over their mind and relationships. Hope is sustained though the reading of Scripture, prayer, and hearing and giving testimony of God's faithfulness in the community of believers. The enemies of hope include "passivity, disappointments and complaining." Faith is maintained through obedience and is seen by its results.
Finally spiritaul warfare over mind and relationships involves dealing with conflict, avoiding gossip and critical talk of others. He says we must not be afraid of differences, but see them as a pathway to maturity and intimacy.

Here are some prayer requests:
Pray
for the staff of our hospital who need to be paid and for wisdom for the
administration in dealing with financial issues.
Pray for us to hold hope for others and to
live out the Gospel in our own transformed lives.
Pray for two recently abandoned children (one a recent graduate of our malnutrition program) who are in the custody of hospital staff on the pediatric ward. We need wisdom along with our village chief as to what action should be taken.